Information security has been a concern of computing professionals throughout the history of computing. An entire industry has emerged to address the issues associated with providing access to computing resources only to authorized users. As the number and type of computing devices continue to grow, users are increasingly burdened with the need to authenticate to each device they use. For example, a user may have a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and a smartphone, each of which requires the user to undergo a sign-on process. This trend is only likely to continue as new varieties of computing devices emerge. For example, the Internet of Things (IoT) initiative promises to multiply the number of connected smart devices associated with each user. Sensors and monitors may collect data that control devices may need to access. Ideally, the data would be stored where it is accessible to any of the user's devices that may utilize the data, but with access permitted only to authorized devices.
The need for secure, accessible data storage is addressed by another trend that affects the information security landscape—cloud computing. With cloud computing, users often need to authenticate each of several devices to obtain access to the same set of cloud-based programs and data. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for facilitating single sign-on for multiple devices.